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This is how Kimberly Montgomery, 52, a clinical psychologist from Indianapolis, describes the experience of meditation:

Picture yourself in a room in a huge castle. You find the door that allows you to walk out of the castle, and you do so. As you cross to the other side of the moat and keep walking, the massive castle dwindles in size behind you, and you can now see the forest around it, and then a distant village.

Your “castle” could be a rut or something oppressive you're trapped in, and the meditation gives you a sense of space, says Montgomery.

Like Montgomery, a growing number of Americans are seeking the benefits of this popular form of alternative medicine. In 2007, a national survey found that nearly 10 percent of adults — more than 20 million people — had meditated in the previous year. That number had grown by nearly 24 percent since 2002.

Meditation: The Types

During meditation, people typically rest in a quiet location and focus their mind on a particular thought or activity. There are two common forms of meditation: transcendental meditation and mindfulness meditation.

In transcendental meditation, or TM, the practitioner sits in a comfortable position and silently repeats a sound, or mantra. Eventually, the individual reaches a state in which the mind is free of thoughts, and is silent, peaceful, but conscious.

Types of mindfulness meditation include:

Zen Buddhist meditation. With this type of meditation, you breathe in a precise manner while counting your breaths or focusing on a particular thought. As you do this, you become aware of being in the present moment.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). This program has been used to address chronic pain and illnesses. Again, it requires you to focus on your breath as it enters and exits your body, and when distracting thoughts intrude, you return your attention to the breathing and let the thoughts pass by. Another aspect involves "scanning" different parts of your body with your mind to assess the sensations in the parts.

Meditation: Health Benefits

According to the National Institutes of Health, people use meditation for emotional health, such as to address anxiety and stress, as well as for physical problems, including controlling pain and symptoms of chronic diseases. Research has found, for example, that meditation may:

Relieve depression associated with fibromyalgia. In one study, women with fibromyalgia who participated in eight weekly MBSR sessions had significantly improved depressive symptoms compared to women who did not meditate.

Reduce distress associated with rheumatoid arthritis. In another study, women with rheumatoid arthritis either participated in an eight-week MBSR course followed by a four-month maintenance program or were put into a control group receiving the MBSR after the study. At six months, women in the meditation group had significantly improved psychological distress and well-being.

Meditation: Peace of Mind

A few years ago, Montgomery had stopped meditating. But when her employer offered a discount on a meditation course, she decided it was time to go back. “I just knew that my life felt more stressful, and I looked back on my life at the times that I'd felt the best and I thought, 'I've got to get back to that.'"

She sometimes wakes up early in the morning to do 45 minutes of meditation before her family gets up. She's noticed emotional and physical benefits from the meditation related to her chronic back condition.

"I do feel that it helps some of the inflammation in my back," she says. "I have frustration about my back problems — it's hard to accept things that you can't do. I'd say meditation has helped me to accept my limits on what I can do, but be committed to having the best life I can with what I have instead of trying to change it."

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